Sylvester cleans up with seven trophies at Hitmen awards gala

Rita Mingo, Calgary Herald03.18.2013

Spencer Humphries, left, Cody Sylvester, Jaynen Rissling, Alex Roach, Chase Lang, and Jake Virtanen pose with their hardware at the Calgary Hitmen Gala awards on Sunday. The Western Hockey League squad wrapped up the regular season on Saturday and will now face Swift Current in the opening round of the playoffs.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

Cody Sylvester must have gotten a little hoarse from thanking so many individuals on Sunday afternoon in the Fairmont Palliser’s Crystal Ballroom. But really, it’s the Calgary Hitmen who should be thanking their lucky stars for this talented and inspirational 20-year-old.

Sylvester, playing in his final of five seasons with the Western Hockey League squad, received a franchise high six team awards at the annual Hitmen banquet, seven if you factor in the player of the month for March.

“It was unexpected,” smiled the modest team captain. “I didn’t expect to win this many. I’m very honoured and grateful to have the privilege to win these awards, but I have to give a great big shout out to my team and my linemates. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

The native of Vernon, B.C., was recognized as the Hitmen leading scorer, the Booster Club fan favourite, as well as winner of the players’ choice, humanitarian, three-star, and, topping it all, the player of the year award. The 5-foot-11, 191-pound winger had his best season in the WHL, finishing ninth in league scoring with career highs in goals (41) and assists (49). His Player of the Year honour is the second for him; he previously won in 2010-11.

“This is my fifth year and every year you want to grow as a player and a teammate,” Sylvester noted. “I think I’ve done that throughout my five years and I couldn’t have asked for a better organization to be a part of. The city of Calgary, the fans are unbelievable. On a personal note, this is a career high for me for points and my linemates were a big part of that, for sure.”

“He’s gotten a lot of recognition this year but he’s very quick to deflect things to his teammates,” said his head coach, Mike Williamson. “He’s a great leader and we lean on him a lot for that leadership.”

Perhaps most telling of the young man’s character is the $17,312 he raised for Chance to Play, a fundraising program he created to support local minor hockey. Most of the funds were collected through the selling of T-shirts which he designed.

“These (awards) mean a lot, but a championship and obviously the Memorial Cup trophy are the ones that I want and I know my team wants them,” Sylvester added. “We have a long playoff run ahead of us; we’re going to get back to work tomorrow at practice and look forward to Swift Current.”

The Broncos are first up for the Hitmen, who open that best-of-seven series at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night.

Yes, there were other awards handed out and, no, Sylvester did not win them all. Jake Virtanen was chosen as rookie of the year; Chase Lang is the scholastic player of the year, Spencer Humphries was the coaches’ award recipient and he also shared the top defenceman trophy with blueline-mates Jaynen Rissling and Alex Roach.

“Sharing that D-man award is awesome,” admitted Humphries, 20, who has to be actor James Franco’s doppelganger. “You don’t really need a trophy at the end of the day; just teaching those young guys the ropes, trying to be the best they can be.

“First of all I was just trying to make the Hitmen at the beginning of the year; we had quite a few 20-year-olds. And once I passed the trade deadline, I was so happy to be here. Calgary is such an awesome place, an unbelievable organization, and it is my last crack at the can. The icing on the cake would be to win the Memorial Cup and the WHL championship.”

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